Card of the Day - June, 2013

Mike McArtorMonday, June 03, 2013

Molder – Time Spiral common. So we're all on the same page with the flavor text, here's a quick rundown: Krosa is a forested region on the continent of Otaria, itself a part of the plane of Dominaria. We first met Kamahl as a pit fighter in Odyssey, but by Onslaught he became a druid serving Krosa.

Card of the Day - Thursday, June 27, 2013

Smokestack – Urza's Saga rare. This card is an instrumental (and eponymous) part of the (in)famous Legacy lockout deck, Stax. In case you're curious about the deck but want a more... modern take... a few weeks ago, Gavin Verhey wrote about a 'stack-less Stax deck for the Modern format.

Card of the Day - Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Skinrender – Scars of Mirrodin uncommon. The Praetor of Unity, Elesh Norn leads the Machine Orthodoxy, the Phyrexian faction connected to white mana, under the title of grand cenobite. Sheoldred is first among the seven steel thanes, those who rule the Phyrexian faction connected to black mana. Learn more about all five of New Phyrexia's factions with the Planeswalker's Guide.

Card of the Day - Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Tidehollow Sculler – Modern Masters uncommon. A scull is "an oar used at the stern of a boat to propel it forward." Thus, a sculler is clearly someone who uses a scull. But what of Tidehollow? It's a region of the Alara shard of Esper, back when Alara was in shards, prior to it being reborn.

Card of the Day - Monday, June 24, 2013

Echoing Truth – Modern Masters common. It's a little hard to see what's going on, but according to the original Darksteel art description, that's a Furnace Dragon "flying above the sea while beams of quicksilver metal shoot up from the ocean to destroy the flying creature." The location, as you probably guessed if you know the plane of Mirrodin, is the Quicksilver Sea.

Card of the Day - Friday, June 21, 2013

Sporoloth Ancient – Modern Masters common. Let's break down this big Fungus to see what it (or at least it's name) is made of. The combining form "sporo" means "seeds or spores." Since we're talking Fungus here, let's go with "spores." And "loth?" It's a combining form used in Magic to denote, basically, "big creature." It is most commonly seen as "Baloth."

Card of the Day - Thursday, June 20, 2013

Squee, Goblin Nabob – Modern Masters rare. Squee's name gives us a clue as to what he's all about. The "Goblin" part is pretty obvious, right? Yup! But "Nabob?" Is that some kind of goblin word? Nope! The word "nabob" entered English via the Urdu language, where it meant a deputy or regional ruler in India. Later, its meaning expanded to encompass someone of wealth and importance.

Card of the Day - Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Kokusho, the Evening Star – Modern Masters mythic rare. Ever notice the clouds of gas being expelled from Kokusho's body? Maybe that's why the Kamigawans used the name "Kokusho" to describe this denizen of Takenuma—koku (黒) in Japanese means "black," and the sho here (瘴) means "miasma" or "polluted gas." (Special thanks to Ron Foster, premier play TO manager [formerly Japan territory manager], for today's entry.)

Card of the Day - Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Errant Ephemeron – Modern Masters common. While it certainly might look like "Ephemeron" is a name created by modifying the ending of "ephemera" (that is, something with no lasting significance), the word itself is in English as something short-lived or transitory. Given that our Errant Ephemeron here is an Illusion, that makes sense!

Card of the Day - Monday, June 17, 2013

Reveillark – Modern Masters rare. This card's name is made up of the words "réveil" (French for "awakening," from which we get our word "reveille") and "lark" (being both a bird and a source of harmless fun, hence the flying and the bright art containing feathery wings).

Card of the Day - Friday, June 14, 2013

Sol Ring – Magic: The Gathering—Commander uncommon. There are many (well, fourteen) magic rings in this game, and none of them should be used lightly! The popular Sol Ring was the first—and for a few months, only—magic ring in Magic, until Arabian Nights introduced three more. It has been printed and reprinted the second-most number of times (seven) of any ring, behind only Aladdin's Ring (eight).

Card of the Day - Thursday, June 13, 2013

Adarkar Valkyrie – Modern Masters rare. You likely already know that a Valkyrie is a usually semi-divine woman of Norse and Germanic mythology who decides who lives and dies in battle. But just in case you didn't, now you do! As her flavor text indicates, Magic's only Valkyrie (originally appearing in Coldsnap) has a slightly different job.

Card of the Day - Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Slumbering Dragon – Magic 2013 rare. The idea of the sleeping dragon is a pretty common fantasy motif, but whence did it originate? Translations of the phrase "sleeping dragon" go back at least to Ancient China, and refer there to a chancellor and a dinosaur. Albanian myth gave us Bolla, who sleeps all but one day a year. But it seems likely that our modern concept comes from "a most specially greedy, strong and wicked worm."